The Best 50 Powerpop Albums according to RYM

Country is simpler.

eh?!? (i'm not even a fan of country music, but this is so clearly wrong.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXkwthWiMFk

Country is simpler.

LOL

(But then, many country musicians have developed into doing powerpop instead)

I think he's finally flipped

it's kind of fun to see how far geir can go w/ his faulty premises.

This a singles genre...but that said, aside from the Big Star albums, which are kind of in a universe by themselves, the best start-to-finish classic power pop album I can think of is Rockpile's Seconds of Pleasure

I take this back on a few levels. Just in the last few days I have listened to... '70s - The Knack, Get the Knack, '80s - Game Theory, Lolita Nation, '90s - The Grays, Ro Sham Bo, all of which are great from beginning to end. Not that Seconds of Pleasure isn't good but it's not the only complete power pop album and I'd probably take any of those other three over it.

godDAMN Bill Monroe's boys are fucking shit up in that clip - thx Pappa!!

Happy to Geirbait.

I think 20/20's and Phil Symour's debut albums are great listens from beginning to end.
And if you consider Marshall Crenshaw powerpop...

it's funny how much Geir hates country, given how white and eurocentric it is

Too rhythmic, maybe.

not enough slow and silent ballads

does Geir basically hate all music pre-1963...? folk, jazz, country - it's all crap to him. I guess he likes Beethoven...

1949
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV_nJ30XDlI

does Geir basically hate all music pre-1963...?

He's said as much, yes.

And if you consider Marshall Crenshaw powerpop...

I do, I do. Field Day's got the same cathedral-like hugeness of the early Byrds, and there are great songs scattered throughout his '80s albums ("Cynical Girl" being the best not on Field Day).

Thus Sang Freud: Our online feed was down for a few days, but I did play your song this morning.

And in the same set as Canadian giants Goddo and Fludd no less! I am not worthy! (Seriously -- thanks.)

This is the second power pop thread I have seen before that there isn't a single mention of The Smithereens, which seems kind of odd as I think their sound is pretty much 60s pop run through loud Marshall amps and they actually had a couple of hits unlike most of those late 70s/early 80s groups.

"country not being hard"

Not when it comes to playing guitar, those guys are freaks. Unlike a whole lot of rock, you can't really BS that flat picking or crazy bends stuff.

This is the second power pop thread I have seen before that there isn't a single mention of The Smithereens, which seems kind of odd as I think their sound is pretty much 60s pop run through loud Marshall amps and they actually had a couple of hits unlike most of those late 70s/early 80s groups.

IMO Powerpop didn't really exist in the 80s at all, save for maybe the first few years of the decade (Romantics, Spongetones etc.). Smithereens were an archetypical jangle pop band, and one of the typical genre specifics of 80s guitar based music was a production dominated by lots of reverb and the vocals way back in the production, whereas powerpop is a melody-oriented genre where the vocals will usually be way out in the front of the production. Sure, I agree the jangle pop bands are related to powerpop, with their retro orientation, going back to "classic" guitar pop etc. But I have a hard time defining them as powerpop. They are probably more related to the Paisley Underground bands, only more classically melodic.

does Geir basically hate all music pre-1963...?

I don't like "rock" music from before 1963. Tin Pan Alley and Brill Building did definitely provide som good pop music, particularly the former.

Oh, and I also like Buddy Holly, largely because he incorporated a lot of Brill Building pop elements into his rock music, and thus extended rock's harmonic and melodic palette. I'm not too big on his straigther 12 bar rock'n'roll numbers such as "That'll Be The Day" though.

"I'm looking for someone to love" is awesome.

Of course the Smithereens are powerpop. Nothing to do with Paisley Underground - it's hard pop, with very little interest in psychedelia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNZbP3ZVem4

Rare namecheck for Bill Wyman there.

Yep, a fixture of a mixtape back in the day, but never needed owt else from them.

God, I just looked a recent clip of the Smithereens. Pat Di Nizio must be 300lb now.

This is a pretty nifty comp for a powerpop primer, different from the usual ones from the DIY series:>> http://www.amazon.com/Roots-Powerpop-Various-Artists/dp/B000003JGK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1276190233&sr=1-1<;<

Nashville Ramblers' Trains is an awesome track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_VPuby8CQw

This might be sped up a bit but you get the idea.

It just occured to me: Nobody has mentioned The Scruffs. At least I don;t think so. Very good p'pop, not too twee.

This is a pretty nifty comp for a powerpop primer, different from the usual ones from the DIY series:>> http://www.amazon.com/Roots-Powerpop-Various-Artists/dp/B000003JGK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1276190233&sr=1-1<;;<

Looks like a different but good representation, but The Roots of Powerpop? Looks more like the golden age to me. The roots of powerpop would rather be the likes of Beatles, Beach Boys, Byrds, The Who, Small Faces and maybe the occasional Buddy Holly or Everly Brothers.

Green?

Anyone "wanna meet the scuffs?"

I mean Scruffs...been listening to it lately. Still sounds cool

I've had a vinyl copy of Wanna Meet the Scruffs? for a number of years. I like it, but don't think it lives up to Christgau's blurb in the '70s book. Sometimes I'd include "My Mind" on mix-tapes for people.

Yep - Wanna Meet the Scruffs is a fine p'pop disc.

I also agree re. the title of the Roots of... comp. Not exactly the roots. In fact I think it may have been Pete Townshend who coined the term. It would certainly be a perfect description for "So Sad ABout Us" & "The Kids Are Alright," among others.

Green?

― kumar the bavarian, Saturday, June 12, 2010 12:50 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark

Their debut is one of the greatest albums ever. Completely untouchable, an overwhelming power-pop masterpiece on a par with Radio City...or Face To Face.

Do you good people think Green Pajamas would fit in the p'pop world, or do they transcend it, or what...?

If the Smithereens can't get filed under Power Pop, then the genre doesn't even exist. They pretty much were doing pre-psychedelia 60s pop running through big loud Marshall amps and did a whole lot of 60s name checking and various things. Criminy they got The Honeys back together to sing backup vocals on their biggest hit, which was on an album whose artwork is nicked from Oceans 11, a decade before that movie was remade.

another vouch for the Scruffs, who are wonderful. their sophomore record, teenage gurls, isn't quite as good as meet the, but is well worth checking.
also, the toms - s/t, who were just one guy outta Memphis (i believe), has given me as much enjoyment as the scruffs

Anyone heard the new album?
http://www.notlame.com/THE_SCRUFFS/Page_1/CDSCRUFFS8.html

If the Smithereens can't get filed under Power Pop, then the genre doesn't even exist.

They were a great band, and I can understand why they are being seen as powerpop. But there are some things about them that don't really fit with the class of the 70s: Big reverb, vocals mixed low and not a lot of vocal harmonies. Note that for largely the same reasons I am not really sure if I would count the dB's as powerpop either. They sound too much like typical 80s guitar bands, with the same production aesthetic as U2, The Dream Syndicate, Big Country etc.

Stands for Decibels is the acclaimed 1981 debut album by The dB's. It was initially commercially unsuccessful but has since become recognized as a crucial album in the power pop canon

Some recs from a lastfm friend I'm currently checking out:

The Someloves - Something Or Other
Any Trouble - Where Are All the Nice Girls?
Sam Phillips - The Indescribable Wow
Dancing Hoods - 12 Jealous Roses
The Windbreakers - Disciples of Agriculture
The Cavedogs - Joyrides For Shut-Ins
Myracle Brah - Life On Planet Eartsnop
The Wind - Wind-Jammer

Any thoughts?

don't know any of them, i remember sam philips but never heard her

i might go see Paul Collins Beat they are coming to mpls!

btw hi pappa good to see you round :)

Also, from the same friend:

The Grip Weeds - House of Vibes
The Hummingbirds - Lovebuz
Cheap Star - Speaking Like An Elephant
Mark & The Spies - Give Me a Look (like a new, foreign Spongetones)
The Orgone Box (which led me to Orange's "Judy Over The Rainbow")

x-post, and HI!

...and The Wind's "Guest of the Staphs" ep.

I'd be curious to see how Paul Collins' Beat pull it off these days!

Myrakle Blah a classic powerpop band, in that they're great fun for the first song - is it Super Tuesday? - and duller and duller thereafter. The Hummingbirds' album is pretty solid, though.

xpost: friends of mine went to the beat in chicago last year and said great things

A lot of that stuff is second-rate at best but it's worth searching out for occasional solid tracks. I'll second the Hummingbirds recommendation.

THe Windbreakers, definitely. I had forgotten about them, which is really sad. Terminal was my favorite record by them, but the were all worth a listen at least.

If The Wind is the band I'm thinking of, they put out some excellent breezy powerpop things. It seems like they had a record or two on Bomp, Voxx or Midnight. One of those '80s labels...

Lordy me, I just don't understand. .38 Special isn't power pop, and the Knack sucked, but at least the Knack sang about the things that power pop is all about. Not too well, but they at least tried. In the New York Times they have this slide show of significant deaths of 2010 and they put Doug Feiger, that idiot from the Knack, in the slide show but left out Alex Chilton! Re the first comment--how is "Radio City" not power pop? Bryan Adams? Rick Springfield? There's also the looming question of, like, quality here...Jeezus.

And speaking of things, there was a great band called The Things that might fit in here.